Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums - Camaro5.com - View Single Post - Winter Tires

biggvan · 02-05-2013, 11:48 PM

I am in Pittsburgh and run blizzaks dm-v1 during the winter. They are 245-50-20 all the way around. This is my second winter on these tires and they are well worth every penny. I drive 5 days a week to cleveland and back again...so I put 1500 miles a week on them and during snows (with 2 45 pound weight plates in my trunk) I am by far the fastest vehicle on the road. They are extremely stable even at highway speeds in snow, slush and ice. I often run into the SUV driver who believes that their awd and all season tires bestow their vehicle with magical powers...well lets just say that after what has to be very frightening fishtailing on their part ,they learn not to try to keep up with me on the highway.
Besides the fact that I am putting a godawful amount of miles on my car, I feel no need for a winter car. In the city (and Pittsburgh is very hilly) I have never gotten stuck or even really had a challenge ..well until now. The rear tires are about halfway worn now and there is a major difference in snow traction because the special multicell compound only runs through the first half of the tread. I can definitely tell the difference in traction....snow is still easily managed but ice is MUCH more challenging now.
On dry roads the tire does squirm quite a bit and dry braking and cornering is much worse than your summer tires...there is a bit of a learning curve involved and your car may invoke stability control if you enter a corner a little too hard because it perceives the sidewall roll as the car beginning to yaw. The first time that happened to me, the car decided to soften my turn angle to prevent me from spinning ( I was not even close to any sort of instability, it was all sidewall squirm)and it almost put me into the wall by stopping me from holding my turning line)After a few days the car learned and that stopped.
If you drive like you have some sense, you will find that the tire is comfortable and the snow/ice traction is AMAZING. I also believe that if you do normal driving (whatever that is) are not putting 1500 miles a week on them, and swap them promptly when winter ends, the blizzaks will probably last 4 seasons or more.

02-05-2013, 11:48 PM	#5
biggvan Drives: 2010 1LT RS Victory Red Join Date: May 2011 Location: Steeler Country Posts: 37	I am in Pittsburgh and run blizzaks dm-v1 during the winter. They are 245-50-20 all the way around. This is my second winter on these tires and they are well worth every penny. I drive 5 days a week to cleveland and back again...so I put 1500 miles a week on them and during snows (with 2 45 pound weight plates in my trunk) I am by far the fastest vehicle on the road. They are extremely stable even at highway speeds in snow, slush and ice. I often run into the SUV driver who believes that their awd and all season tires bestow their vehicle with magical powers...well lets just say that after what has to be very frightening fishtailing on their part ,they learn not to try to keep up with me on the highway. Besides the fact that I am putting a godawful amount of miles on my car, I feel no need for a winter car. In the city (and Pittsburgh is very hilly) I have never gotten stuck or even really had a challenge ..well until now. The rear tires are about halfway worn now and there is a major difference in snow traction because the special multicell compound only runs through the first half of the tread. I can definitely tell the difference in traction....snow is still easily managed but ice is MUCH more challenging now. On dry roads the tire does squirm quite a bit and dry braking and cornering is much worse than your summer tires...there is a bit of a learning curve involved and your car may invoke stability control if you enter a corner a little too hard because it perceives the sidewall roll as the car beginning to yaw. The first time that happened to me, the car decided to soften my turn angle to prevent me from spinning ( I was not even close to any sort of instability, it was all sidewall squirm)and it almost put me into the wall by stopping me from holding my turning line)After a few days the car learned and that stopped. If you drive like you have some sense, you will find that the tire is comfortable and the snow/ice traction is AMAZING. I also believe that if you do normal driving (whatever that is) are not putting 1500 miles a week on them, and swap them promptly when winter ends, the blizzaks will probably last 4 seasons or more.